I'm Coming Home
by frostonthewindow
Summary: One mistake can make or break a team. And this, this was no exception. She was dead. Disintegrated by his own foolish mistake. Or maybe...she wasn't. Requested by youknowyouloveit.


_**A/N: This was requested by my best friend, Erin. Her pen name is youknowyouloveit. If you can't find her, just go under my profile to authors I'm following and she's there.**_

**I'm Coming Home**

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Not so long ago, there was a city. And in that city was the worst villains and criminals and murders the world had ever seen. For a long time, there was only the human police. They could only do so much. Sure, they could defeat the _human_ villains, but when it came to aliens and mutants and inhuman criminals, they were at a lost.

Guns couldn't defeat a man made of cinderblock. Handcuffs couldn't restrain a woman who could bend and stretch like rubber. Bullet-proof vests could only handle so much shrapnel before they were used up. Hand grenades could take down human, but not life forms from other planets.

In a word, Jump City was falling apart.

Then, _it _happened.

One ordinary day, 4 extraordinary teens met up coincidently. All were different. All had the same idea; save the city from a raging alien.

Once the real enemy was found, and destroyed, and events happened that couldn't be explained without being labeled as mentally unstable, the city showed their gratitude to the teens for saving them.

They moved in.

There was a dark sorceress who had purple hair, purple eyes, and shadowy powers.

An alien princess from a faraway world who could shoot laser beams with her eyes and from her hands, and could lift a building with no effort.

An apprentice of a famous superhero in Gotham who always wore a mask. He had no powers, but knew advanced fighting skills.

A green boy who shape-shift into any animal he chose from a childhood accident.

A half-human, half-robot man who at the time wore a sweatshirt and pants and a hood to hide his metal features.

Together, they were the Teen Titans.

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As the years flew by, the villains and criminals and other-worldly threats left. They could not defeat the group of heroes, they were too trained and skilled.

The Teen Titans were no longer teens as the years went by. They were the Titans. The leader changed his name from Robin to Nightwing and his outfit colors to blue and black instead of traffic light colors, while the shape-shifter changed his name to Chalenging. Most of the members were dating and one couple engaged.

But one villain, a half-robot and half-human, refused to leave. He wreaked havoc on the city, and yet was as sly and cunning as a fox. The Titans could not catch him, nor find him.

And when they did, that's when it ended.

What happened then affected them for the rest of their lives.

That's where this story begins.

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_The Titans had cornered Slade in an abandoned warehouse. The old structure groaned and creaked as the group made their way through the dusty, ancient walls._

_Chalenging coughed and swatted a spider web. "Dude! Why would Slade choose to reside here? He'd die of dusty lungs!"_

_Cyborg looked back at the shape-shifter. "He's a robot, grass stain. He doesn't have lungs."_

_The green man nodded. "Oh, yeah."_

_The dark sorceress next to him rolled her eyes. "You would think being around me so much that my intelligence would rub off on you."_

_He smirked. "Yeah Rae, but then I wouldn't be me."_

_She huffed. "I'd be grateful."_

_He shook his head as he hooked his arm around the half-demon's small waist. "Oh Rae, that hurt."_

_She snorted and pushed him away playfully. "I know."_

_He rolled his eyes and opened his mouth, but the leader cut him off. "Hush."_

_Chalenging raised his head and saw before them were 5 passageways. _

_Nightwing grabbed his staff as his fiancée, Starfire, lit up her hand. Cyborg lifted his arm and charged up his cannon as Raven summoned energy and Chalenging got ready to shift._

_Nightwing nodded to the 5 hallways. "Split up. Call me I anything goes wrong."_

_And with that, he slinked into the shadows of the first tunnel._

_Cyborg cautiously went down the second as Starfire and Raven flew down the next 2. The Chalenging took the last one._

_As soon as the light from the main tunnel was lost, he transformed into a bat and flew down the passage._

_His expert hearing picked up the smallest sound up ahead. He narrowed his eyes and flew forward, knowing something, or someone, was before him._

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_Raven flew down the hall, blue cape billowing behind her. She grabbed her communicator just in case and opened it. She smiled at the sight of her husband and 3 month old daughter._

_A sound to the right of her caught her attention. She closed it, frowning, before taking off in that direction. _

_Then there was a sound behind her. She whirled around, but nothing was there._

_The hairs on her neck rose up and she turned just in time to see a rag cover her nose and mouth._

_A sickly sweet smell penetrated her thoughts and she floated away into the unknown darkness._

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_Nightwing frowned as he sneaked among the shadows. Something wasn't right. He couldn't tell what, but something was off._

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_Starfire floated along the empty corridor. She felt like shouting into the darkness, asking if anyone was there. But she knew that would only give away her location. _

_The hall up ahead split into two other passages. She looked between the two. Which one?_

_Then there was a clang from the right one. She smirked to herself before silently zooming down that way. As she sped off, she didn't notice the glowing white eye staring down at her from above._

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_Cyborg flipped the light on his shoulder on, then reduced the watts to low, so he would see without being spotted._

_His arm was charged and ready to fire once they found Slade._

_He never got the chance as a footstep sounded behind him. He turned just in time to see a spark. His human eye opened and he gasped as the charge hit his power panel._

_He fell to the ground, shocked._

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_Nightwing growled as the men circled around him._

_As they came charging, he pulled his cape in front of his face and counted to three. He could do this._

_With a battle cry, he thrust his staff into the face of the first Sladebot. It fell, electricity sparking from its fake face._

_The next two came at the same time, and he laughed. This was too easy. One he flipped over his shoulder and stepped on, the other was thrown to the ground and had a staff shoved right through its stomach._

_The last two approached more with caution than the other three before it._

_Jabbing, wrestling, swinging, Nightwing fought the last two bots with energy. But they were strong, and he was too, but he fought too hard in the beginning._

_They downed the hero, and the last thing he remembered was Slade laughing._

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_A man jumped from the ceiling, downing the alien princess. With a cry, she fought to get back up, pushing the bot from her with her powerful legs. He fell back, landing on his stomach._

_She progressed forward, a starbolt ready to fire in her palm, but another bot jumped onto her shoulders and stuck a needle into her neck._

_She fell and the darkness consumed her vision._

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_The Chalenging sighed. He wished Rae was here. Her laugh, her smile would light up the tunnel._

_Another clang to the right, and frowned. He felt like he was lost. His instincts told him he was._

_Another bang resounded, and he turned again._

_There._

_Up ahead, there was a doorway. From underneath it light peeked through._

_He took a deep breath, changed into a fly, and flew through the keyhole._

_He wasn't prepared for what he saw._

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_His team, his family, at the mercy of Slade._

_Nightwing, Starfire and Cyborg were all in separate cages, and from what he saw, personalized for their powers._

_What scared him the most was Raven, his Raven._

_She was in one of the circles like on Wheel of Fortune; her hands and feet tied to the sides, making her look like a star._

_All of them were knocked out._

_He flew up to the rafters, and sat there, in fly form, trying to figure out how to save her._

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_5 minutes later, they were stirring. The Chalenging clenched his fists. He was up, laying on the beams, in human form, watching the Titans as they woke up. Of course, the three Titans in the cages immediately started blasting or jabbing or kicking the bars, trying and failing to escape._

_At one point, Starfire stopped and her eyes wandered up to the rafters._

_He saw her eyes find his. She opened her mouth, and he shook his head and placed a finger over his mouth, silently telling her to keep quiet. She nodded, and turned back to Nightwing._

_He was watching her oddly. She looked him in the, then shot her eyes upwards to where the Chalenging was._

_He saw, and the shape-shifter knew that behind that blue and black mask, he had been seen. Starfire shook her head, and Nightwing nodded._

_Cyborg was alerted, and he saw his green friend hiding up in the ceiling's boards._

_Raven still wasn't awake._

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_The Chalenging had a plan. There were guards surrounding the cages, but he could fly down there, grab the keys, and retreat to his hiding spot._

_He was about to put his plain into action when the door he flew in through opened._

_He fell back into the shadows, and looked hatefully down at the black and orange one-eyed robot beneath him._

_Every cell in his body screamed for him to jump down onto his neck, and snap it. He could feel the Beast stirring._

_He pushed the urge down and watched, green eyes sparkling with curiosity and rage._

_Slade led a group of bots to the center of the room, where the cages were._

_He nodded to the guards. "Dismissed."_

_Just that one word sent chills down Chalenging's spine. He hated this guy, and he deserved to die or rot in a prison far away from his family._

_The group of bots behind him looked expectantly at their master. He snapped. "Guard the doors."_

_They went off, and surrounded the door. The green man smirked. He was already in._

_Slade walked slowly to where the cages were. He didn't say a word._

_None of the heroes said anything either._

_A groan cut the silence in half._

_All heads turned to the half-demon, strapped to the circle. She groaned and hung her head._

_Rage boiled up inside Chalenging's soul, and the Beast called for blood._

_Slade turned and walked towards the circle._

_Raven lifted her head, and saw the man advancing her. He could see her breathing hitch a bit. He knew what happened to her last time she ran into him._

_He walked right up to her, until his armor was barely touching her body._

_He looked down. "Hello, Raven."_

_She growled. "What…did you…do with…Gar?"_

_His heart skipped a beat._

_He looked over at the door. All Sladebots were faces towards the door._

_He took a deep breath, changed into a gnat, and flew down closer._

_When he landed, he saw Starfire widen her eyes just the slightest bit. She knew where he was._

"_My dear Raven, I do not know the whereabouts of your beloved."_

_The cold voice of the robot/man hybrid jolts Chalenging from his thoughts._

_He flies the rest of the way down, and cautiously lands behind the cages. As soon as his legs hit the ground, Slade smiles._

"_Chalenging, I know you are there."_

_He is lost. How does he know he's there without even turning around?_

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_Immediately the shape-shifter forms back into a human and emerges, ready to fight if necessary._

_Slade laughs coldly as he turns. Raven's eyes widen when she sees him._

"_Chalenging. How nice of you to join this little…party."_

_He growls, and Slade steps back a bit, not from fear though._

"_Release them."_

_The villain laughs. "What would be the fun in that? No, you have to make a choice."_

_He stays silent._

_Slade produces a remote, and hits the first button._

_The chains holding Raven drop, and she slumps forward, right into a glass box that folds up with her in it._

_The box flies up, to the furnace on the other side of the room. The door to the flames is opened. The box hangs above it._

_His breath hitches._

"_You can choose either to release your precious demon or-"_

_He presses the other button, and water begins to fill the cages his friends are in. _**(A/N: The cages are like in Divergent, when Tris was in them and they were filling with water in her dream) **_"-save your friends."_

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_Chalenging starts. _

"_What?"_

_Slade rolls his one good eye. "It's simple boy; pick."_

_Raven looks over at him. "I'll be find. Save them."_

_Slade snarls. "Shut it, witch." The cage drops a bit, and the flames begin to lick at the floor._

_Tears form in her amethyst eyes. "Gar, it's okay. I'll be okay. Save them."_

_His eyes fill with tears as his heart breaks. Save his family, or her?_

_He looks over at the cages. Cyborg is already shut down, the blue parts usually glowing are now gray and dead looking. His robotic eye is red, signaling his panel has been fried._

_Starfire is levitating above the water, her back pressed against the top of the glass box. She looks over to her right, where her fiancée is. "Nightwing," she says, her voice thick with tears and eyes shimmering with them, "I'm scared."_

_Nightwing's mask scrunches up, and Chalenging can tell he's trying to hide his emotions. He reaches a hand out to the side of the glass, and Starfire does the same._

"_I love you, Star."_

_His heart breaks. He looks back to Raven, who's sweating from being so close to the heat. Tears run down her face, and she nods, whispering. "Save them."_

_He shakes his head._

_She nods, and her hand presses against the glass. She swallows hard. "Gar, I love you."_

_He doesn't have time to register what happens next._

"_Chalenging, choose."_

_Raven's eyes turns red, and multiply. She screams, and the box cracks and falls, taking her plummeting into the bright flames of the furnace below, screaming for help._

_Gar turns into an eagle and flies for her. In seconds he reaches where she is falling through air._

_And he misses her hands by millimeters._

_She screams once more as she falls into the inferno and is immediately reduced to ashes._

_This all happened in seconds._

_Then the place explodes, a shockwave blasting through the air._

_The wave throws him back, and he unknowingly changes back into human form. Fire licks at his hair, his eyes, his body._

_He screams, not from just his pain, but from the pain knowing that no one could survive falling right into fire. Not even a half-demon._

_He lands on his back as a metal beam hits his head. He blacks out._

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Chalenging wakes with a start. His breathing is fast, sweat pouring down his face. He sits up, and starts to softly cry.

It's been a year since that day, and every night he still dreams of it. How he could have stretched his hand farther, flew faster, or flew lower.

_I was close, so close._

And he had been. Their hands had been millimeters apart right before she plunged into the inferno.

He could have tried to save her at least. Nightwing and Cyborg had dragged his body from the building. He woke in time just to see the structure fall from the flames.

It killed Slade and Raven.

Slade's body was pulled from the rubble, but Raven's was never recovered. The officials said it was because she disintegrated from the flames, but Chalenging always hoped she had escaped somehow.

But deep inside, if he really reached down, he knew she was dead.

There was no way she could have survived that.

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Just as his foot hit the bottom stair to the common's room, the alarm goes off. He sighs and counts in his head.

_One. Two. Three._

He moves out of the way just as the doors slide open and Nightwing runs past.

He scans the screen as Starfire, Bumblebee and Cyborg enter.

Starfire and Nightwing were married now, and Cyborg engaged to Bumblebee. They had needed a fifth Titan to replace the one they had…lost.

As they all gather around, Nightwing clears his throat. "Okay team. It's her again."

A groan is heard.

'Her' was the worst villain. She was fast, quick, and skilled. It's like she knew all of their flaws, because they lost every time she came to town.

She has no name. Her face is always concealed by a hood. Chalenging doubts if she even has a face.

Her name?

_Agent._

It may not seem like much, but it described her perfectly.

She never taunted them, never even spoke. She would just start fighting, and not stop until they were all on the ground.

Nightwing cleared his throat. "Titans, we are not going to hurt her. We are not going to take her in. We are not going to fight her."

The 4 other titans stand there, shocked.

He smiles. "We're going to reveal her identity."

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"Titans, GO!" he yelled, and the attack began. Chalenging stayed behind a bit, it was his job to get behind her somehow and grab her hood off her head.

There was no chance to.

Until, there was hope.

Nightwing was swinging his staff at Agent while Starfire and Bumblebee shot from above and Cyborg fired his cannon from the ground.

Her cape flapped in the wind. HE could see her clothes underneath, all black and the shoulder of her shirt bore her symbol, a flying bird. A raven to be specific. _**(A/N: The cover photo)**_

He was already behind her in the building, and he saw his chance. Chalenging jumped up, changed into a raven and flew out the window.

With a cry, he landed on the girl just as she turned. He changed back, and with a yell, brought them both slamming into the concrete.

She struggled, but he had her pinned down with his body.

With a quick hand, he pushed the hood off her head.

And was staring into purple eyes.

He fell back, shocked. _No. It…no. It couldn't be her._

But yet, against all odds, he sat there, staring at her face.

"Raven?"

The girl looked up at him, confusion, anger, and a hint of remorse in her eyes.

"No."

And with that, she pushed him off, pulled her hood up, and launchd herself into the sky.

He flew after her. "Raven! Wait!"

She turned. "I'm not Raven, Chalenging. Not anymore, at least."

And with a swipe of black energy, she was gone.

He stayed there shock and confusion set across his face.

Raven was alive.

But she wasn't Raven…not any more.

What had happened?

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_**A/N: WEREN'T EXPECTING THAT WERE YOU?!**_

_**Ohmygosh this took me a week to write. This is long for me.**_

_**And btw…my birthday's on Sunday! Yay! I'll be 14, finally! **_

_***dances around and sings even though I can't to save my life***_


End file.
